ESCONDIDO: Teen rape suspect charged, faces life in prison

A 17-year-old Escondido boy who allegedly raped and robbed a
16-year-old girl at gunpoint as she walked to school last week was
charged Wednesday under the state's "one-strike" law for sex
offenders.

The teen faces 50 years to life in prison if convicted of
charges that he raped, robbed and kidnapped the girl while wielding
a handgun, Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza said.

The North County Times is not naming the suspect because he is a
juvenile.

In a brief arraignment at the Vista courthouse Wednesday, the
teen pleaded not guilty to the charges. Superior Court Judge Martin
Staven ordered him held on $1 million bail.

Espinoza said the teen is being held at Juvenile Hall in San
Diego.

The prosecutor said the suspect is being charged as an adult
because of the seriousness of his alleged crimes.

"Because of the serious nature of the crime, because a handgun
was used, because a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped on her way to
school, that's why we decided to charge the case as we did," he
said.

The alleged crimes also qualify the defendant for the
possibility of life in prison, Espinoza said.

The state's 1994 one-strike law was passed by the Legislature
and expanded under voter-approved Jessica's Law in 2006. It allows
child molesters and rapists to receive sentences of 15 years to
life or 25 years to life if the crime is committed under particular
aggravating circumstances.

Espinoza said the teen's alleged use of a gun and a kidnapping
during a rape qualify him for the stiff sentencing of two
consecutive 25-years-to-life sentences.

Police said the suspect assaulted his victim as she walked on a
bicycle path near the flood control channel off North Ash Street
and East Valley Parkway on Friday.

The path is well-used and just behind Fresh and Easy market and
other businesses, Escondido police Lt. Craig Carter said.

"It's not exactly a ghost town," he said.

The suspect passed the girl, and when she looked back at him, he
had pulled a black ski mask over his face and was running toward
her with a pistol, Carter said.

The attacker put the gun to the victim's ribs and walked her
behind some bushes about 200 feet away, where he raped her, Carter
said.

The next afternoon, an officer spotted the suspect on North Rose
Street near Washington Park.

Carter said the officer stopped the teen because he looked like
a composite sketch made from the victim's description. The sketch
featured the teen's buzz-cut hair and acne-blemished cheeks. Carter
said there was something else that drew the officer to the boy, but
he declined to say what it was.

The officer learned there was a warrant for the juvenile's
arrest and took him into custody.

At the police station, a piece of the victim's stolen property
was found in the suspect's possession, Carter said.

Police have interviewed the suspect's father, who lives in
Escondido, Carter said Tuesday. He said the suspect dropped out of
high school "some time" ago, declining to be more specific.

The lieutenant said detectives are still trying to determine
where the boy was living and have not served any search warrants in
the case.

He declined to comment on whether police have located the gun
allegedly used in the attack, citing the open investigation.

Detectives are reviewing all Escondido rape cases over the past
year to see if the teen may be a suspect, Carter said.

He said the 16-year-old victim in last Friday's attack is doing
well, considering the circumstances.